What happened
On 23 August 2026, Vietnam's National Assembly passed Law No. 11/2026/QH16, amending the Law on Customs. It takes effect on 1 March 2027, and the changes are about how counterfeit goods get stopped at the border: IP enforcement extends to goods in transit, customs can suspend clearance on its own initiative without waiting for a brand to ask, and a rights holder's suspension request must be decided in two hours.
Vietnam did not do this alone. On 30 April 2026 the Office of the United States Trade Representative named Vietnam a priority foreign country under Section 301 — the highest alert level in the Special 301 framework — and opened a Section 301 investigation on 29 May. Its Federal Register notice set out the complaint: Vietnam's customs had held ex officio power over suspected counterfeit shipments since 2022 but had rarely used it, and Vietnamese law gave customs no such power over goods in transit.
The transit problem, in numbers
This is the part that matters for anyone shipping through Southeast Asia.
- In 2023, Vietnam's customs authorities recorded only 16 infringing shipments in the supervised area.
- By 2025 that had risen to 41, of which 37 were transit goods — over 90 percent of the total.
- In the first months of 2026, 10 of 11 detected violations involved transit goods.
Goods moving through Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong and the northern land gates can be re-routed to other markets without being sold in Vietnam.
What the new law gives a brand owner
First, ex officio suspension. Under Article 73(2), customs can proactively suspend clearance when it finds clear grounds to suspect goods are counterfeit, with no brand request required. For transit goods this is the only route: a rights holder's own request still covers imports and exports only.
Second, the two-hour clock. Once customs receives a complete suspension request it must decide within two hours. A complete request needs evidence of IP ownership, evidence of infringement and a financial guarantee — the statutory deposit is 20 percent of shipment value. On a VND 5 billion consignment, that is VND 1 billion locked up.
Recordal gets cheaper too. Under revised Article 74, rights holders file monitoring applications at any regional customs office, and customs must decide within 10 working days. An accepted measure lasts two years, extendable by two more.
A brand that cannot produce a complete suspension request in two hours does not have a two-hour window. It has a two-hour delay.
E-commerce gets its own article. New Article 16a requires platform operators to connect to customs' electronic data systems, subjects goods traded through them to customs inspection, and recognises them as customs declarants.
Source and caveats
Vietnam Briefing, 30 September 2026, cross-checked against S&O IP (12 October 2026), Tilleke & Gibbins (14 September 2026) and USTR's Section 301 notice in the Federal Register (3 June 2026). The implementing decree and circular are still out for consultation, so the procedures are not settled.
Two caveats. The transit figures come from Vietnam Briefing's reading of customs data, not an official series. And the ex officio power reaches trademark and geographical indication counterfeits and pirated copyright goods — not shipments alleged to infringe a patent or design.
Key takeaways
- Law No. 11/2026/QH16 passed on 23 August 2026 and takes effect on 1 March 2027.
- IP enforcement now covers goods in transit, over 90 percent of Vietnam's infringing shipments in 2025.
- Customs can suspend clearance ex officio, without a brand request. The request route needs ownership evidence, infringement evidence and a 20 percent deposit.
- A complete suspension request must be answered within two hours.
- Recordal runs through any regional office, decided in 10 working days and lasting two years.
What this means for a brand owner
- Register your marks in Vietnam before 1 March 2027, not after. Every tool here is keyed to a Vietnamese registration. A brand with none cannot file a monitoring application, request a suspension, or be notified when customs holds its goods.
- Decide who can sign a complete request in two hours. A request missing evidence or the deposit never starts the clock. That means a named responder, a pre-cleared evidence pack and a funded deposit account.
- Model the deposit before relying on the request track. On a low-value consignment, 20 percent of shipment value can exceed the margin on the goods it protects, leaving ex officio detection the only realistic option.
- Do the packaging work on the registered symbol. A Vietnam Customs letter of 19 August 2026 confirms goods bearing the registered trademark symbol are not automatically treated as counterfeit when the mark is not protected in Vietnam, provided accurate information is supplied via a supplementary label.